April 25, 2024 MSFS Development Update

[David Mills 4,774]

APRIL 25TH, 2024 – DEVELOPMENT UPDATE

Posted by: Microsoft Flight Simulator Team

This week’s Screenshot Challenge winner is Forum user Parorng! If you’re interested in participating in our weekly Screenshot Challenges, check out the details in the Community section below!

Yesterday, our panel of Jorg, Seb, and Martial plus special guests from Working Title and iniBuilds appeared on our latest Developer Livestream. If you missed catching it live on Twitch, you can watch the replay on YouTube here:

In addition to answering dozens of questions from the community, some of the other highlights from the broadcast include:

• Overview from Working Title on the improvements to the G3X avionics coming in Sim Update 15 (SU_15)
• Presentation from iniBuilds about the Airbus A320neo V2, a free aircraft for all players on all platforms launching alongside SU_15
• Announcement of City Update VII: European Cities II which includes updated scenery for:
  • Barcelona
  • Madrid
  • Monte Carlo
  • Nice
  • Porto
  • Stockholm
• Announcement of Local Legend 16: Short Sc.7 Skyvan (“The Flying Shoebox”) by developer iniBuilds

Both City Update VII and Local Legend 16 are targeted for release on May 28.

Also announced during the livestream was an update on the Sim Update 15 release date. While we had previously revealed a tentative launch date of April 30, we now think an additional week of development time is necessary. This will be the last Sim Update for Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) prior to the launch of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 later this year (but not the final Sim Update for MSFS2020 ever — SU_16 is planned for early 2025), so the team really wants to make sure SU_15 in an excellent state before we release it.

In Marketplace news, the team feels like they have the backlog under control and can now begin accepting new developers into the Marketplace. We have a very lengthy list of pending applications and can’t approve all of them at once, so in order to help us prioritize the developers most desired by you, the community, we are asking for your feedback. Please see this thread on our forums where you can share your feedback on which developers you would most like to see added to the Marketplace.

– MSFS Team

 

 

FEEDBACK SNAPSHOT

Click here for the web-friendly version of the Feedback Snapshot.

• No update this week.

SDK UPDATE

ASOBO

• No update this week.

WORKING TITLE / MSFS AVIONICS FRAMEWORK

• No update this week.

MARKETPLACE FEATURED RELEASE

We are pleased to highlight the PA-38-112 Tomahawk from developer Just Flight, available now for both PC and Xbox!

Following on from their popular PA-28R Arrow III, PA-28R Turbo Arrow III/IV and PA-28-161 Warrior II for Microsoft Flight Simulator, Just Flight’s in-house team has developed this highly detailed simulation of the PA-38-112 Tomahawk following comprehensive, hands-on research with a real-life Tomahawk, G-BNKH, based at Goodwood Aerodrome with SportAir.

An already popular aircraft with the community, Just Flight is excited to bring you this incredibly detailed rendition of the Tomahawk into Microsoft Flight Simulator, complete with fully accurate systems functionality, high quality modelling and texturing, realistic wear and tear, a plethora of customisation options and an immersive sound set recorded from the real aircraft.

Just Flight continues to raise the bar with their General Aviation aircraft fleet, with this release bringing with it full 8K PBR textures for the interior and exterior and brand new features that have never been seen before in a Just Flight product, such as a fully interactive walkaround mode, allowing you to perform a full pre-flight walkaround. This is an important feature, as component wear and tear is also simulated that is both persistent between flights, and is variable depending on how you fly the aircraft. Are you a pilot that greases every one of your landings on smooth tarmac runways? Then you will have less tyre wear than a pilot that flies off gravel strips and likes a more ‘positive’ touchdown.

The Piper PA-38 Tomahawk is a two-seater, piston-engine aircraft equipped with a fixed tricycle landing gear, 112hp four-cylinder engine and a fixed pitch propeller – an ideal aircraft for flight training and touring! Almost 2,500 Tomahawk’s were manufactured between 1978 and 1982 with many still in operation around the world. The aircraft is renowned for its unconventional stall and spin characteristics, which unlike similar aircraft, require pilot skill to recover from. These characteristics are simulated and can now be experienced in Microsoft Flight Simulator.

It’s time to take the Tomahawk for a spin!

MARKETPLACE RELEASES

Click here for the web-friendly version of the Marketplace Update.

There are 65 new and 53 updated products in this week’s Marketplace Update.

MARKETPLACE BACKLOG

Current Backlog: 505 Total

BACKLOG: NEW PRODUCTS

	Testing Status
Content Type	In MS Processing	In MS Testing	In 3P Testing	Total
Aircraft	13	0	12	25
Mission	51	23	70	144
Scenery	8	4	2	14
Livery	57	0	11	68
Airport	36	12	21	69
Other	16	2	6	24
Total	181	41	122	344

BACKLOG: UPDATED PRODUCTS

	Testing Status
Content Type	In MS Processing	In MS Testing	In 3P Testing	Total
Aircraft	12	3	16	31
Mission	10	2	0	12
Scenery	18	15	1	34
Livery	32	0	4	36
Airport	20	20	8	48
Other	0	0	0	0
Total	92	40	29	161

 

THIRD PARTY UPDATE

• As of 04/22, we have now approved 279 (+5) third parties into the in-sim marketplace and – so far 224 (+1) have released 3,464 products on PC (+23) and 3,212 on Xbox (+22).
• In total, 4,359 products (+17) have already been released in 3^rd party stores and the in-sim marketplace. Beyond that, another 850 products (+0) from 3^rd party developers are in production (336 announced, 514 unannounced). In total, over 5,208 3^rd party products (+16) have either been released or are in development.
• Airports:
  • 2,406 airports (+0) are either released or are in various stages of development.
    • 2,186 airports (+9) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
    • 1,665 airports (+19) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
    • 111 airports (-5) beyond the released airports have been announced.
    • 109 airports (-4) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an airport is in production.
• Aircraft:
  • 816 aircraft (+0) are either released or are in various stages of development.
    • 388 aircraft (+2) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
    • 310 aircraft (+6) have been released in the in-sim PC marketplace.
    • 295 aircraft (+6) have been released in the in-sim Xbox marketplace.
    • 206 aircraft (-1) beyond the released aircraft have been announced.
    • 222 aircraft (+0) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an aircraft is in production.
• Scenery:
  • 1,135 scenery packs (+3) are either released or are in various stages of development.
    • 1,100 scenery packs (+5) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
    • 665 scenery packs (+6) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
    • 20 scenery packs (+0) beyond the released scenery have been announced.
    • 15 scenery packs (-2) are not announced but the dev let us know that scenery is in production.
• Mission Packs:
  • 366 mission packs (+9) are either released or are in various stages of development.
    • 296 mission packs (+1) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
    • 235 mission packs (+2) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
    • 0 mission packs (+0) beyond the released missions have been announced.
    • 70 mission packs (+8) are not announced, but the dev let us know that they are in production.
• Livery Packs:
  • 447 livery packs (+4) are either released or are in various stages of development.
    • 362 livery packs (+0) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
    • 353 livery packs (+0) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
    • 1 livery pack (+0) beyond the released scenery has been announced.
    • 84 livery packs (+4) are not announced, but the dev let us know that scenery is in production.
• Ships & Watercraft:
  • 38 ships & watercraft (+0) are either released or are in various stages of development.
    • 27 ships (+0) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
    • 22 ships (+0) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
    • 0 ships (+0) beyond the released ships have been announced.
    • 11 ships (+0) are not announced, but dev let us know that ships are in production.

COMMUNITY FLY-IN FRIDAY

The Community Fly-In Friday World Tour continues!

This week, the World Tour enters its third continent as we cross the Strait of Gibraltar into Africa!

We will depart from Lisbon and fly southbound along the Portuguese coast to Faro, a city rich in history and culture. Next, we head to the famous Rock of Gibraltar for a touch & go landing at LXGB before proceeding across the Mediterranean Sea to Morocco. Our full-stop landing will be at the Moroccan capital city of Rabat.

Be sure to install the free World Update VIII: Iberia from the in-sim Marketplace for the best experience during this flight.

Event details are available here. All are welcome to participate!

COMMUNITY VIDEO

April 16th saw the release of Local Legend 15, the Dornier Do 31!

Created in collaboration with the team at iniBuilds, this prototype VTOL aircraft requires some patience and practice to master the skills of successful flight. In this week’s Community Video, we’re highlighting the video created by iniBuilds, introducing the aircraft and showcasing how to operate the Do 31 correctly.

How many of you have already tried out the brand new Dornier Do 31?

SCREENSHOT CHALLENGE

This week’s screenshot challenge: Favorite Flier

This past week’s Screenshot Challenge was: Earth Day II

Weekly Screenshot Challenge Winner: Parorng (Forums)

Screenshot by @tsujiKa_air (Twitter)

Screenshot by HolmesCZ6127 (Forums)

Screenshot by @2525ARW (Twitter)

Screenshot by Inf1anEwok (Forums)

Screenshot by @pommes_l (Twitter)

Screenshot by Inf1anEwok (Twitter)

Screenshot by HeKa48 (Forums)

Screenshot by Jacobes16 (Forums)

Screenshot by @CpuGeta486 (Twitter)

Screenshot by Lwsail (Forums)

---

NEXT DEVELOPMENT BLOG UPDATE – May 2nd, 2024

Sincerely,

Microsoft Flight Simulator Team

Edited April 25 by David Mills

[cmpbellsjc 2,963]

@David Mills Thanks for the update, it’s 🌲’d. 

[David Mills 4,774]

I've just been asked by a Microsoft Flight Simulator Community Manager to no longer copy and paste the weekly Asobo blog here on AVSIM. He (or others) will hereafter be posting a link to the official Microsoft website when the weekly updates become available over there. I was told that the reason for this change is that a copy-and-paste version of the blog (as I make) is frozen in time and might not reflect later edits that Asobo makes to provide the most up-to-date news.

Edited April 26 by David Mills

[TuFun 440]

Two characters in the clouds... creepy!

[polosim 857]

3 hours ago, David Mills said:

I've just been asked by a Microsoft Flight Simulator Community Manager to no longer copy and paste the weekly Asobo blog here on AVSIM.

We are grateful for your commitment and great effort throughout all this time, without your contribution we would have missed a lot of good and not so good news. Thank you ver much.

[MarcG 3,023]

5 hours ago, David Mills said:

I've just been asked by a Microsoft Flight Simulator Community Manager to no longer copy and paste the weekly Asobo blog here on AVSIM. He (or others) will hereafter be posting a link to the official Microsoft website when the weekly updates become available over there. I was told that the reason for this change is that a copy-and-paste version of the blog (as I make) is frozen in time and might not reflect later edits that Asobo makes to provide the most up-to-date news.

Nonsense ignore them, once literature is posted to the internet it can be copied and pasted anywhere as long as credit is given. They have no right to ask you to not post it, they can't do anything about it and there are far more important things they should concentrate on with their own forum.

[irocx 293]

5 hours ago, David Mills said:

I've just been asked by a Microsoft Flight Simulator Community Manager to no longer copy and paste the weekly Asobo blog here on AVSIM..... .......I was told that the reason for this change is that a copy-and-paste version of the blog (as I make) is frozen in time and might not reflect later edits that Asobo makes to provide the most up-to-date news.

You have avid simmers who want to help inform and promote the MSFS platform on the world's preeminent flight simulation website by simply copying and pasting the info they release ......and this is their lame response.

Nothing more than a feeble attempt at controlling the narrative, unfortunately at the expense every bit of passion and goodwill demonstrated by the community.

SMH - What a bunch of fools.  

[MarcG 3,023]

There's been open talk about censorship on their own forums, with evidence, now they want to censor here as well?

Nah.

Edited April 26 by MarcG

[Dominique_K 10,151]

6 hours ago, David Mills said:

I've just been asked by a Microsoft Flight Simulator Community Manager to no longer copy and paste the weekly Asobo blog here on AVSIM. He (or others) will hereafter be posting a link to the official Microsoft website when the weekly updates become available over there. I was told that the reason for this change is that a copy-and-paste version of the blog (as I make) is frozen in time and might not reflect later edits that Asobo makes to provide the most up-to-date news.

Overreaching a bit don’t they? Sounds like hubris to me 😁.  

[Virtpilot 155]

7 hours ago, David Mills said:

I've just been asked by a Microsoft Flight Simulator Community Manager to no longer copy and paste the weekly Asobo blog here on AVSIM. He (or others) will hereafter be posting a link to the official Microsoft website when the weekly updates become available over there. I was told that the reason for this change is that a copy-and-paste version of the blog (as I make) is frozen in time and might not reflect later edits that Asobo makes to provide the most up-to-date news.

It has become a habit to me to check these development update news here at Avsim every Friday. I hope that "Flagged by community" nonsense keeps away from here.... Keep up the good work and thank you about these update news.

Edited April 26 by Virtpilot

[Tuskin38 6,592]

5 hours ago, irocx said:

Nothing more than a feeble attempt at controlling the narrative

That’s Conspiracy Bull poop. The community managers just wants the most correct information out there so people don’t get the wrong information.

 

Edited April 26 by Tuskin38

[MarcG 3,023]

3 minutes ago, Tuskin38 said:

That’s Conspiracy Bull poop. The community managers just wants the most correct information out there so people don’t get the wrong information.

 

Then they shouldn't post anything, what they post at that precise moment is correct at that time and can be freely shared elsewhere. 

Edited April 26 by MarcG

[Tuskin38 6,592]

Just now, MarcG said:

Then they shouldn't post anything, what they post at that precise moment is correct at that time and can be freely shared elsewhere. 

They have added info to weekly updates before after they were posted.

[MarcG 3,023]

Just now, Tuskin38 said:

They have added info to weekly updates before after they were posted.

If that's what they do that's fine, but to ask people not to share the initial post is very clearly an attempt at censorship. Seems like a complete waste of time adding things to a weekly updates when it could simply wait for the following week, I refer them (you) to my earlier comment that they have far more pressing issues to deal with than this.

[Tuskin38 6,592]

2 minutes ago, MarcG said:

to share the initial post is very clearly an attempt at censorship

That’s not what censorship is. Wow.

Censorship would be not letting us post the link at all.

Edited April 26 by Tuskin38